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Still too forest-green. Marinette frowned, cutting out another chunk of yellow to blend into the batch of green polymer clay. Her fingers chafed from kneading, almost blistering, and her eyes were heavy with fatigue.
A sudden thwump sounded from behind her, and she let out a muffled shriek.
“Hello, Princess!” A familiar sunny voice dulled the edge of her shock like honey on a bitter tongue. “You left your trap door open, so I let myself in.”
“You shouldn’t just barge into someone’s house, Chat,” she scolded, heart still pounding from fright.
Nonetheless, it was a struggle to maintain a stern expression at the welcome sight of her partner.
“Sorry.” Chat rubbed the back of his neck, dramatic flair dissipating into shame. “I guess that wasn’t very gentlecatly of me. Uhh… I just wanted to tell you your trap door was open, in case you forgot. Now that you know… I’ll be going.” With a brisk wave, he mounted her ladder.
Marinette stood abruptly. “Wait!”
He froze mid-step. “Yes, Princess?”
Marinette’s cheeks colored. “Would you want to… stay, maybe?”
He appeared to consider a moment before nodding. “Sure, if you don’t mind.” He hopped off the ladder, and Marinette pulled out the spare rolling chair for him. “What are you doing up so late, anyway?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she returned.
Chat shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep, so I went out to clear my mind.”
“Hmm… well, if it’s a distraction you need, would you like to help? I’m making beads.” Marinette picked up a black clump of polymer clay.
“You’ll find me a form- idable helper,” Chat joked, accepting a hunk of the clay in his clawed fingers.
“I need four black balls, about this size.” Marinette held her thumb and forefinger a few millimeters apart to indicate the diameter. “Think you can manage?”
“Of course—I cat -ch on quickly.” Chat grinned, waiting for her to groan at the pun, but she didn’t. Only a little put off by her lack of response to two puns in a row, he pinched off a piece of clay.
Silence filled the room as they worked. When Chat was done with the black beads, Marinette gave him the green clay she’d finished mixing, as she moved on to perfecting the hue of the red.
“So, beads, huh? For… a lucky charm?” Chat guessed.
Marinette nodded. “Two, for my friends.”
Her dispirited tone caught Chat’s attention. Marinette was usually more cheerful—but then again, it was past midnight, and she must be tired.
“There’s a secret in the design,” Marinette said with a faint smile that Chat thought looked a little forced. She showed him a sketch of the charm design. The beads were grouped two by two, alternating red and green, with numbers written on them in Chinese calligraphy. In between the second and third bead sat a small black one, to separate them. “‘1314’ is Chinese internet slang for ‘one life, one world,’” she explained.
“Yi sheng, yi shi,” Chat translated. A phrase for lovers. Who could the charms be for? Alya and Nino? Ivan and Mylène?
Marinette’s jaw dropped. “You know Chinese?”
“Isn’t it only natural I should speak Chat-nois?” He winked.
Marinette flicked his bell, smiling weakly. “Dork.”
Chat’s gut sank. There was tension in her expression he would normally read as irritation. “Marinette, is something wrong?”
Marinette shook her head, face brightening in an obvious effort to conceal her feelings. “No, just tired.”
“You can talk to me, Marinette,” he implored. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“It’s enough that you’re helping me, Chat Noir.” Her artificial smile melted into a genuine one. “Thanks.”
Slightly crestfallen that Marinette didn’t want to open up to him, Chat had an idea. He formed something small out of black clay and stuck it behind her computer. “Who’s that?” he gasped with unabashed theatrics. “A spy?”
Marinette looked where he was pointing and plucked up the little blob of clay—a cat head with dot eyes and a small ‘w’ mouth carved in. “You made this?”
Chat dropped his act. “Yeah, just a reminder that a certain black cat cares about you.”
Marinette flushed, self-conscious. “Goofball,” she accused.
“At least you’re smiling now,” Chat gloated.
Marinette’s hand drifted to her mouth. She hadn’t even noticed.
—
“And now… we wait.”
The clock read 2:13 a.m., and the beads were in the oven with a timer set for thirty minutes.
Marinette collapsed onto the couch beside Chat Noir, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
The thoughtless, familiar gesture unleashed a swarm of butterflies in his chest, but the feeling turned sour when he noticed a pout on her lips.
“Hey… Marinette?”
“Hm?”
“You okay?” he tried again.
“Yeah, of course,” she replied with a flighty little laugh that didn’t sound the least bit sincere.
“You don’t seem okay,” he observed in a low tone.
Marinette lifted her head off his shoulder, curling her knees up and hugging them defensively. “I’m just being stupid. It’s no big deal.”
Chat wasn’t sure what to do. Her body language said ‘leave it alone,’ but the way her eyes flicked to his face made it seem like she wanted to talk.
“If you’d rather not tell me, would it help if I… um… gave you a hug?” he ventured.
Wordlessly, Marinette nodded.
He opened his arms, and she leaned into him. The tingle in his stomach started up again, and his heart rate sped up traitorously when he realized she might be able to feel his pulse.
“It’s for my crush,” Marinette whispered.
Chat did a double take. “Excuse me?”
“The lucky charms. They’re for my crush… and his girlfriend.”
Oh. Chat’s arms tightened around his friend. “I’m sorry, Princess.” He frowned, rationalizing that his displeasure was at the injustice of a girl as sweet as Marinette suffering from heartbreak. “Why are you doing this for them?”
He couldn’t imagine sacrificing sleep to make a couply gift for Ladybug and her mystery boy. The very thought made him sick.
“I thought it would help me get over him,” Marinette hummed. “They’re both my good friends, and I want them to be happy.”
“The poor fool,” Chat Noir scoffed disdainfully. “He doesn’t know he’s neglecting the sweetest girl in Paris.”
Marinette sat up, extracting herself from Chat’s arms, and glared at him, hands on her hips. “Don’t call Adrien a fool! He doesn’t have to love me, and Kagami is a wonderful person!”
Chat’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Kagami? She’s not my girlfriend!”
“Wait…” Marinette blinked, processing. “What?”
He blinked back, registering his mistake with horror.
“Wait, you—” she pointed a finger at him.
Chat gulped. The chances of the slip-up passing safely under her radar were looking increasingly slim. “Oops,” he whispered hoarsely.
“You’re ADRIEN?!” Marinette let out in a hysterical squeak.
“Shh!” Chat glanced around, then placed his hands on Marinette’s shoulders, leaning in to whisper tersely, “I messed up, Marinette, but you can’t tell anyone. Please.”
“I-I won’t!” Marinette frantically scanned his face, feeling a hair away from freaking out, screaming, or bursting into tears. “I can’t believe it. Are you really Adrien?”
This was his chance to back out and tell her it was a misunderstanding. Except, at that moment, his secret seemed less important than reassuring Marinette that her love life wasn’t hopeless.
So, he unzipped his right pocket and pulled out his pink-and-green lucky charm. “It’s me,” he murmured.
Marinette let out an audible gasp and reached out to touch the familiar beads. “It is you,” she whispered.
“And I’m not dating Kagami,” he insisted, realizing at the same moment why he had been hesitating.
He watched Marinette’s face for any sign of improvement in her mood, but she still just looked stunned. He touched her shoulder again. “I’m sorry that you were sad, and I’m sorry that you stayed up so late on a school night making a gift you won’t be able to give.”
“I-I mean…” Marinette’s eyes softened as a pink glow stole across her cheeks. “You can still have yours, if you want…”
—Oh. Right. This meant Marinette had a crush on him. Chat’s face heated up. He almost retracted his hand in embarrassment, until he realized that might make Marinette feel rejected, and he was not going to make her feel rejected.
“Um… I’d love it. Thank you,” he mumbled bashfully. “But you should keep the other one. Don’t give it away… okay?”
It was a reasonable request. The charms were a pair, with a romantic message carved in. He wasn’t with anyone that way, so to whom would Marinette give the other one?
It was only an hour later, tucked in bed and running his fingers over the newly handcrafted beads, that Adrien realized he wanted her to have it. He felt oddly satisfied knowing that he shared two pairs of lucky charms with Marinette: one that stood for friendship, the other for love.